Facsimile machines used heretofore have mainly been for monochrome communication. In recent years, however, the growing popularity of ink-jet printers, digital cameras and personal computers has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the handling of color information. These changing circumstances have given rise to the need for communication of color information.
First, communication of color information at the present time in accordance with the recommendations of the ITU-T will be described.
Transmission of full-color information is executed in Lab color space of ITU-T Recommendation T.82 by JPEG coding stipulated by ITU-T Recommendation T.82. Both a transmitter and a receiver execute facsimile communication of color information by a stand-alone facsimile apparatus.
In the example of the prior art described above, the color space of transmitted color facsimile information is Lab color space, but the color space of color information captured by, e.g., a digital camera is sYCC. Further, color space in a case where color information is displayed by a personal computer also is sYCC. That is, the need for color information communication in sYCC color space is growing in view of the recent popularization of digital cameras and personal computers.
In a facsimile apparatus, however, higher price results when it is attempted to cover both color reading and color printing. Accordingly, users are looking forward to the appearance of a monochrome facsimile apparatus that is capable of supporting communication of color information in sYCC color space.